Soon the transport left the city heading south and for the first time the legionary camp came into view. It was an impressive structure with a detailed layout of roads and barracks. She was impressed. They landed in an open area containing other shuttles, some landing some taking off. Throughout the flight, the Romani guards in the shuttle left the general alone with her thoughts. When they landed and the doors opened, a single Romani guard came to her and snapped to attention with a crisp salute. “General, if you please, I have the honor to escort you to the command structure.”
Alisa admired the discipline of these people. Even though they won the battle, she knew her side had killed many of the Romani. That they could be so professional spoke of a level of discipline she never saw in her own forces. Her escort led her into the camp and wherever they went, as soon as the Romani saw her rank, they snapped to attention and saluted her. She could not take it all in. If this was a type of psychological warfare, it was working. She suddenly found herself liking the very people whom she wanted to kill when she got up this morning. Soon she was in front of a large structure in the middle of the camp. She expected to be lead in for an audience, but again to her surprise, a statuesque woman in her 50’s came out of the building, accompanied by a small entourage. By the deference shown her, she knew, this was the general, whose tactics had defeated her.
“I am Legatus Victoria Edmonton of the tenth legion of Nova Romae,” the Romani general said without preamble.
General Golov was about to unsheathe her ceremonial saber to give a formal surrender, when the Legatus held up a hand to stop her. “You will not be formally surrendering to me. I am only the field commander of the ground forces. Overall command of our expeditionary force resides with one of the leaders of our government, the Consul Juan Lorenzo. He will be joining us for dinner. That’s his shuttle landing now,” and the Legatus indicated a ship just getting ready to touch down.
“By the leader of your government, do you mean your CEO?”
“He would hold an equivalent rank to a CEO, but we are not affiliated with any corporations, so we do not have a CEO.”
Now this was astonishing news. If General Golov understood correctly, the equivalent of a CEO was commanding this operation. No CEO of any corporation would ever get his or her hands dirty with combat. Yet in space, they are as much at risk as the lowest rank in the navy. She was getting a headache trying to figure these people out. Suddenly, there was increased activity accompanied by the blaring of a horn. She looked down the street in the direction of the landing area and saw a group of men and women dressed in white robes and holding bundles of rods with axes affixed to them. These were followed by a standard-bearer carrying a long pole affixed with a golden eagle with spread wings and below in gold the letters LEG X. Next, there came a soldier with a large brass horn wrapped around his body with the bell of the horn coming up over the right shoulder and facing forwards. This was the source of the occasional horn blowing noises. Last in the procession was a stately looking man with a mustache and goatee encased in dark purple body armor and an old-fashioned cloak. She also noted that the troops in the camp not only saluted this person but also acted with reverence towards him. In corporate space, CEO’s were tolerated and feared, but never revered.
The Consul came over to the generals and the Legatus snapped a crisp salute, which was returned by the Consul and then he extended his hand and the Legatus took it. “Congratulations, Victoria, on a well fought battle.”
“Thank you, Juan, but I did nothing compared to the valor of the legion.”
Again, Golov was struck with how easily these people spread the praise and glory to their subordinates. If she ever gets to command more than a dishwashing crew again, she will make note of this. The Consul then went over to the Petrovian general and extended his hand, which she took, not knowing the etiquette. “Congratulations, General Golov, on a well fought battle. You gave us a good licking in some places along the line. I am sorry so many of your valiant soldiers perished, but rest assured they will be admired by my people for their courage for many years to come. The video footage of their valor is being packaged and sent back to our home world as we speak.”
This was impossible. Now they are even praising the loser. Apparently, it is the quality of the fight that matters to these people. There does not seem to be any animosity at all. Again, she pulled her saber out of its sheath and handed it to the Consul. He took it and said to her, “I accept the formal surrender of your forces and now I return the saber to you, not as an enemy but as a fellow warrior.” With that, the Consul handed the saber back. Golov was confused but sheathed it again. They all entered the building now for dinner.
After they were seated and had a fine meal prepared by expert chefs, far better than the field rations she was used to, General Golov turned to one of her concerns. “What happens to all of us now?”
The Consul had a bottle of the finest vodka brought out and three glasses. He poured the clear liquid himself and handed each member of the dinner party one. Lorenzo then began, “It is our policy to keep prisoners of war under a form of house arrest until the war is settled or there is a lull with an exchange of prisoners. If you promise your people will respect the inhabitants of this city and will lay down their arms on other parts of the planet, we will leave you unmolested. We will be preparing for the arrival of your main fleet.”
“When we received your terms at the end of the battle, I ordered a cease fire in all areas, and it is my understanding that some of your forces have already disarmed the small number of Petrovian soldiers in other cities.”
“Yes and I am glad there are no pockets of resistance for us to worry about.”
“What about me and my command staff?”
“We hold no animosity towards you for doing your duty as you understood it. The responsible person is your CEO and his minions, none of which we will face here. We fight only when provoked.”
“Then why this fight. Whoever you are, we did not provoke you. We attacked Balin Corp to avenge their release of a plague on us.”
“They did not release the plague; it was released on them as well.”
This was news to Golov and she was not sure she believed it. Lorenzo continued, “We would have left you alone, but the Balin CEO and some of his people asked for asylum in the Border Worlds and they are a protectorate of ours. One of your cruisers followed the Balin ships and violated their space. That set up a domino effect that finds us here.”
All Golov could think was how much she would love to put a bullet in the ship’s captain who brought this disaster down on them.
Again the Consul continued, “As for you and your command group, you are still in command of your people and I would ask that you not allow them to do anything to provoke us. Trust me, as good as we can be towards a vanquished enemy, we can be vicious to those who abuse our trust. As we stated before, as long as you behave, you may have limited interaction with the populous for the purpose of trade and improved relations. I also think you should be aware that the Balin Corporation is now a protectorate of the Romani.”
“We will do as requested, but I would request the opportunity to speak with the admiral of the fleet when it arrives. I would like to attempt a peaceful resolution, if they will listen.”
“I will have you patched through when the time comes and give you that chance. Now let’s have a toast to peace,” Lorenzo raised his vodka glass, as did the others and said, “To peace.” They each downed their drinks.
“This is excellent vodka,” General Golov remarked.
“It should be, we took it off one of your automated freighters in a pirate raid a while back.”
She looked at the Consul and at the Legatus and burst into laughter, joined by the others. From then on the dinner continued well into the night, with more vodka than food. If she had to be a prisoner, she was glad it was with these people.
Chapter 10 – Phase 3: The Defense of New Wales
The next few weeks on N
ew Wales were busy ones. Clean up started immediately after the battle, especially removal of the organic material in the form of bodies and body parts. The remains would not last long in the jungle heat. All of the dead were identified by DNA analysis. This was easy for the victors, but proved a challenge for the Petrov dead, since the DNA information was stored at the command and control hub and this was in the rubble of their building. The Romani helped the Petrovians dig out the computerized DNA data and finally had all bodies and body parts identified by the end of a week’s time. The Romani and the Balin resistance, the only form of government left on the home planet, allowed the Petrovians to bury their dead in a clearing outside the city. When the current war was at an end, the bodies would be exhumed and returned to their families. If any of the bodies had no families back home, it was agreed their graves would be honored where they lie. The Romani dead were all taken back aboard the ships they were assigned to and cremated. Their urns were stored in the most secure center of the ship for later interment at the Mountain of Remembrance back on Nova Romae.
By the second week, the human remains had been taken care of and the wounded were all on the mend and out of danger. A routine was developing, just as routines always develop among humans. The Petrovians were kept under guard but allowed some freedom of movement as long as they honored their promise to respect the person and property of the Penllyn residents. The residents also put aside their animosities, except against those who committed atrocities. Fortunately, there were few of these and, since at home these very officers functioned to keep the military in line, none of the Petrov officers cared if they were punished. All of them were convicted on strong evidence and executed by firing squad. The Romani learned from contact with the Petrovians that they behaved themselves because of the belief that their fleet would defeat the Romani and rescue them. Of course, the Romani thought otherwise, but wars are unpredictable; the Romani were not invincible, even if they thought they were. Tavia was given leave to stay with her uncle, but she soon tired of the visit to her old life and returned to her quarters in the legionary camp. She was assigned to Decanus Marshal’s squad and they continued her training. All agreed she was a fast study and she would be given her chance to prove herself in the coming battle. If she did, she would be given a waiver, allowing her to join the legion at 14. She would be assigned as a support person for the first cohort. Once she was 18, she could become a full member. Ironically, she already had more combat experience than most of the legionaries in the service of the Romani.
Ian MacDougal worked tirelessly, along with the rest of the population to put their city back together. It took over a week for the remains of General Fedin and the others from command and control to be fully excavated from the rubble of their headquarters. They were buried with full military honors. The rubble was cleared away and used to fill in the basement of the administrative building after the Resistance dead were removed. Ian decided to make the site a memorial park to the resistance. The Romani were impressed with him as both a military leader and an administrator. All of this was put in a report with all of the raw footage of the battle videos. This was then uploaded to a message capsule and sent back to Nova Romae. It will take ten days to get to its destination. The return communication will take another twelve days. Before any vessels can reach them from Nova Romae, the contest will be settled.
By the third week post battle, the Romani engineers were able to get both of the damaged Petrovian dreadnoughts patched up and their slipstream sails repaired. The one cruiser that did not plunge into the New Wales Ocean and the destroyers were too severely damaged to repair without a shipyard and would have to be towed to the nearest facility. Tow-ships were large, automated freighters built solid in the first three quarters of their length with the remaining quarter consisting of movable sides that can open like a tuning fork and adjust to the width of the ship being towed. Once the crippled ship is in the fork it is closed to fit snuggly and then is held in place by clamps. The vessel is then given a destination and it takes the slipstream this way. They can only achieve a maximum speed of 0.5 light years per hour, making them the slowest vessels to take the slipstream. However, that was still months in the future and for now, they will be parked in orbit around New Wales. The dreadnoughts would be sent under their own power. Prize crews were put aboard along with those too severely wounded to take part in the coming battle. These, along with some medical personnel, were placed on the more intact of the dreadnoughts. By the end of the third week post battle, the captured dreadnoughts departed on their journey to Nova Romae.
The fourth week post battle saw the Planet back to normal. However, there were some changes taking place. The Balin populace was learning a lot from the Romani, and not all had to do with combat. The residents of New Wales were eager to learn of this civilization that they had been unaware of before. What most interested them was the fact that a society could exist without a corporation at its head. There was no collective human remembrance of any other type of government than corporate governance. CEOs were masters of all under them. Though this removed some level of freedom, most were content not to be burdened with the responsibility of governing. They had seen the Romani in action and could not conceive of sacrificing oneself in combat for a cause. They knew the Romani soldiers were paid, but that seemed secondary to the Romani themselves. They carried within them a spark lost to the rest of humanity. They had a personal identity that allowed them to have a stake in the destiny of their culture and their world. The more the leaders of the resistance spoke with them, the more they realized that they no longer wanted corporate control of their destiny. When the government does everything for you in the name of benefits, you lose your free will and your ability to transcend the commonplace and become great. A revolution was brewing, and when the dust settled, and the corporate bureaucracy came out of hiding to reestablish their authority, they would be faced with a new world order, eager to learn from the Romani. Since, it was always the will of the Romani to destroy the corporations who cast out their ancestors, they encouraged this and soon Arthur Balin would learn a cruel lesson; in saving his corporate space, he lost it.
The first half of the fifth week went very much like week four, until a sensor board on the Longinus began flashing. The tech on duty did some calculations and immediately notified the officer of the deck of his findings. Consul Lorenzo was on the planet having dinner with Legatus Edmonton and the Slones. Alaya was all healed and, along with Tavia, functioned as liaison with the provisional government of New Wales. Also at the dinner was Ian MacDougal, who was the elected head of the provisional government and Tavia MacDougal, the Romani representative to the new government. The discussion around dinner centered on gaining Nova Romae Senatorial recognition of the new government and discussing what would become of the old corporate structure. Tavia was there to learn the Romani ways, more than to represent them, and she remained quiet most of the time. They were in the process of discussing what the new area should be called, for no one wanted the name Balin anymore. That was the past and they wanted a future. Some names were being discussed to suggest to the New Wales representative assembly, when Lorenzo’s communicator chirped. He looked worried as he answered it.
“I told the ship not to disturb us unless it was an emergency,” Lorenzo said as he activated his comlink. “Lorenzo here.”
“Consul, we picked up a small ship signature entering from the inbound slipstream coming from Petrovian space.”
“Is it the Draco?”
“Telemetry is just coming in, Consul.” They could hear some discussion in the background, then the officer of the deck came back on, “Yes, Consul it is the Draco.”
Lorenzo looked at the Slones, “This may be it.”
Both Christopher and Alaya nodded their heads in unison and Ian and Tavia knew what they meant. If the Draco was here, then the Petrovian main fleet cannot be far behind. Again, the communicator chirped and the officer came back on.
“We are receivi
ng a message from the Draco.”
“Patch us in to the communications console.”
“Yes, sir.” This time the communication tech responded.
The channel opened and they could hear Allen Farnsworth's voice, "This is the scout ship, Draco. We are 20 hours ahead of the main Petrov Corp battle fleet. The enemy fleet consists of 13 dreadnoughts, 11 cruisers and 24 destroyers. They are quite an impressive sight. One of the dreadnoughts is Admiral Perminov's. We calculate a 14 hour 23 minute transit time to New Wales. Draco out."
Nova Romae (The Adventures of Christopher Slone Book 2) Page 21